Teaching sports skills becoming serious business locally

Sunday

THIBODAUX -- In his seven-year Major League Baseball career, Scott Sanders used a fastball routinely clocked above 90 mph to strike out nearly a batter per inning.

Eight years after he hung up his spikes, Sanders, at 6 feet, 4 inches and 220 pounds, still resembles a power pitcher, with his thick legs and broad shoulders.

At 38, he holds no illusions of coming out of retirement, a la Roger Clemens, though.

Instead of training for a comeback, Sanders spends his afternoons and nights imparting the knowledge he learned to local athletes.

Sanders, a former Thibodaux High and Nicholls State standout, owns and operates the 10-month-old Sanders Baseball and Softball Academy on Ridgefield Road in Thibodaux.

A background in pro sports is not a prerequisite to run a successful academy, as Sanders is the first to admit.

"Name recognition is not as important as what you can teach," he said. "I played with a lot of great players who couldnít teach anything."

Although he doesnít boast a pro-sports pedigree, Jay Priceís Houma-based All-American Athletic Academy has developed a large clientele in the three months since it moved to Equity Boulevard. Unlike Sandersí baseball and softball operation, Price also offers customers football lessons, speed and agility tips and also caters to adult softball players.

Whereas youngsters used to split time between two or three sports, now they are more apt to "specialize" in one. Thus, the demand for year-round instruction has exploded in recent years, making businesses like Sandersí and Priceís hot commodities.

"For kids who are serious, itís a year-round sport," Sanders said of baseball, noting he gives as many lessons during the fall as he does during the spring. "You canít just put it down for six months, then pick it up."

Sanders said he first started thinking about opening a baseball academy in the mid-1990s, when he was playing with the San Diego Padres.

Instead of opening one in California, Sanders elected to share his expertise with the people of south Louisiana.

Sandersí 10,000-square-foot facility, which is reminiscent of a red barn on the outside and a high--school gym on the inside, features five batting cages and two pitching mounds. Sanders, who employs six instructors, works with children as young as 4 all the way up to college players. The majority of Sandersí 75 baseball students are between 8 and 14, he said. Half-hour lessons cost $30 and hourly ones are $55. Softball lessons taught by his wife are $30 and $50, respectively.

The money is a wise investment, according to Thibodaux resident Leroy Horn, whose 14-year-old grandson Jessie Cortez practices pitching, hitting and fielding with Sanders. Horn raved that, under Sandersí tutelage, his grandsonís pitching velocity had "gone way up," his batting had become "tremendous," and he had become "a better all-around ballplayer."

On Tuesday, under the watchful eye of Sanders, Cortez, an eighth-grader who plans to try out for E.D. Whiteís baseball team next spring, worked on three pitches: fastballs, curveballs and split-finger fastballs.

Sanders communicated with his shy protťgť after nearly every pitch, either offering praise or concise instructions.

"Every kid has a different level of ability," Sanders said. "When they walk out, I want them to be a better baseball player."

Price, who owns All-American Athletic Academy, shares the same objective. He first imagined his 13,000-square-foot indoor facility while watching his sonís travel team play against teams whose players attended academies. The academy also features a 50,000-square-foot outdoor-training area.

Now, Price has 14 employees, who give an estimated 80 lessons per week to students ranging from children as young as 3 to high-school seniors. Lessons for individuals range from $35 for a half-hour to $60 for an hour. Team lessons cost $72.

"We teach the fundamentals of everything," Price said. "Hitting, pitching, fielding, base running. Everything to do with the sport."

Membership runs from $50 to $75 per month for unlimited hitting and pitching. Baseball and softball lessons make up 65 percent of his academyís business, Price said, noting that football and agility-training lessons also bring in money. He added he is putting on baseball, softball and football camps this summer.

Priceís operation is also family friendly, featuring birthday parties and a parentsí night out from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, when children can participate in dodgeball tournaments for $10.

For information on Sanders Baseball & Softball Academy, check out www.sandersbaseballsoftball.com or call 446-1910. For information on the All-American Athletic Academy, check out www.allamericanathleticacademy.net or call 580-7740.

Staff Writer Kelly McElroy contributed to this report.

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